Materials:Fraction vocabulary cards, Fraction game cards, Fraction wall sheet. Procedure: Note: The total amount of time to carry out this activity may take two or three sessions before you get to the actual game.
1. Read the book together. Take time to talk about fractions and when people see or use them in everyday life. When you are finished reading the book, cut out fraction game cards. Make sure that children can read the fractions and know what they mean. The last four cards are “improper fractions”. Only use those if the students understand what they mean.
2. Students should label the fraction wall with the correct fraction value. When finished, have students arrange the fraction cards in a line from smallest to largest. The equivalent fractions can be placed on top of each other. When you think the students understand the value of these fractions and which are larger or smaller than each other, you can play the game using the directions below. For follow up or reinforcement, choose a vocabulary activity to reinforce meaning.
Game Directions:
1. Each player uses his own set of fraction cards by putting them in a pile face down. If you are worried about keeping the piles separated for later use, have students mark the top of each card with a different colored dot.
2. Each player turns over his top card. The player that puts down the card with the largest fraction value gets all of the cards. If there is a high card tie or equivalent fraction, each of those players puts down a new card on top until there is a winner.
3. The game is over and a person has won the game when one person has all of the cards or the most cards in his pile when time is called.
Game Directions:
1. Shuffle together the fraction cards of all the students who are playing. Add the sheet with the wild cards and extra fractions at the bottom. The wild cards can be substituted for any value as long as the student can tell you what fraction it should be. If you are worried about keeping the piles separated for later use, have students mark the top of each card with a different colored dot.
2. Deal out 7 cards to each player. The rest of the cards go in a pile in the middle of the game.
3. The player with the lowest fraction value on her card goes first. She needs to put down two or more cards that are equivalent (eg. ½ and 2/4 or 1/2+1/4 and ¾). If a student cannot put down an equivalent fraction pair or triad, she needs to take a card from the pile in the center. She can do this up to three times.
4. Play the game until one person is out of cards. The winner is the person who has the highest total equivalent card matches when the cards are totaled up.
Reading A-Z resources:
Crow Shares a Pie Level N
Brain Pop Jr.resource:
Basic Parts of a Whole-easy
Additional resources: Apple Fractionsby Jerry Pallotta, Scholastic, Inc., ISBN# 0-439-38901-1
Subject Area: Fractions, Math
Grade Level: 3/4
Text Connection: Fraction Fun by David Adler, Holiday House, 1996, ISBN # 978-0-8234-1259-4
Vocabulary: Fraction Vocabulary Cards
See vocabulary activities
Activity #1: High Card
Materials: Fraction vocabulary cards, Fraction game cards, Fraction wall sheet.
Procedure: Note: The total amount of time to carry out this activity may take two or three sessions before you get to the actual game.
1. Read the book together. Take time to talk about fractions and when people see or use them in everyday life. When you are finished reading the book, cut out fraction game cards. Make sure that children can read the fractions and know what they mean. The last four cards are “improper fractions”. Only use those if the students understand what they mean.
2. Students should label the fraction wall with the correct fraction value. When finished, have students arrange the fraction cards in a line from smallest to largest. The equivalent fractions can be placed on top of each other. When you think the students understand the value of these fractions and which are larger or smaller than each other, you can play the game using the directions below. For follow up or reinforcement, choose a vocabulary activity to reinforce meaning.
Game Directions:
1. Each player uses his own set of fraction cards by putting them in a pile face down. If you are worried about keeping the piles separated for later use, have students mark the top of each card with a different colored dot.
2. Each player turns over his top card. The player that puts down the card with the largest fraction value gets all of the cards. If there is a high card tie or equivalent fraction, each of those players puts down a new card on top until there is a winner.
3. The game is over and a person has won the game when one person has all of the cards or the most cards in his pile when time is called.
Activity #2 Equivalent Fractions
Materials: Fraction vocabulary cards, Fraction game cards, Fraction wall sheet, Wild card sheet
Procedure: Use the same procedure as outlined in Activity #1. This is a more challenging game that focuses on students understanding the concept of equivalent fractions.
Game Directions:
1. Shuffle together the fraction cards of all the students who are playing. Add the sheet with the wild cards and extra fractions at the bottom. The wild cards can be substituted for any value as long as the student can tell you what fraction it should be. If you are worried about keeping the piles separated for later use, have students mark the top of each card with a different colored dot.
2. Deal out 7 cards to each player. The rest of the cards go in a pile in the middle of the game.
3. The player with the lowest fraction value on her card goes first. She needs to put down two or more cards that are equivalent (eg. ½ and 2/4 or 1/2+1/4 and ¾). If a student cannot put down an equivalent fraction pair or triad, she needs to take a card from the pile in the center. She can do this up to three times.
4. Play the game until one person is out of cards. The winner is the person who has the highest total equivalent card matches when the cards are totaled up.
Reading A-Z resources:
Crow Shares a Pie Level N
Brain Pop Jr. resource:
Basic Parts of a Whole-easy
Additional resources:
Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallotta, Scholastic, Inc., ISBN# 0-439-38901-1